


Somewhere Safe

by watermelonriddles



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 12:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11148207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watermelonriddles/pseuds/watermelonriddles
Summary: "Ed has no idea what on Earth possessed him to come here of all places, but he finds himself standing outside of Jim Gordon’s apartment nonetheless."





	Somewhere Safe

**Author's Note:**

> Set sometime after the events of 3x21/22 :)

Ed has no idea what on Earth possessed him to come here of all places, but he finds himself standing outside of Jim Gordon’s apartment nonetheless. He hesitates outside for a long time. Now that he’s there he doesn't quite know what to do. His body aches and he still feels a little disorientated, it takes him a moment to realise that he’s shaking. Eventually, just to distract himself from it, he knocks on the door.

  
Jim comes to answer it quicker than Ed anticipates. There’s a moment of shock on the Detective’s face when he sees who’s on the other side. Any other time Ed would revel in his ability to shock Jim into total silence, but this time around he wishes for anything but. Hell, Jim could yell and arrest him if he wanted to, anything would be better.

Luckily he doesn’t have to endure it for much longer before Jim blinks, seemingly shaking himself out of whatever shock he’s in. The silence continues to stretch out, but feeling a little calmer now he finally locks eyes with Jim.

“Ed?”

Jim’s expression is soft, concerned. He has his hands raised slightly like he can’t quite decide if he wants to hold them up in defence or to reach out and comfort Ed. They watch each other carefully for a moment.

“I- I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Okay,” Jim says, nodding his head slightly. “Why don’t you come inside? Or I can come outside?”

Ed looks inside the apartment for a moment. Without needing to say anything, Jim simply steps aside, allowing him to slip by. Even inside, with the door shut, Ed is still cautious so he takes a seat in an armchair where his back is to a wall and he can see everything. Jim stays across the room, watching carefully.

“Did you know about what Oswald did to me?”

Jim nods. “You were on display in the Iceberg Lounge.”

Ed considers asking whether Jim had even tried to help him or not, but he figures the answer wouldn’t make him feel any better either way.

“I don’t remember when I got out,” Ed tells him. “I just remember today, and then before that was the docks, when I got frozen.”

Perhaps responding quicker than he should, Jim asks, “why are you here, Ed?”

“I didn’t know where else to go.” Hadn’t he said that before? It made him feel stupid, doubting himself like that.

“I know.” Jim grabs the chair by the desk and sets it down right in front of Ed. He takes a seat. They’re so close that their knees almost press together. “You have to tell me what you need, what I can do.”

“Did you try to help me?” Ed finally asks, unable to help himself. His voice is quiet, his head down. “When I was frozen.”

“At the grand opening of the club,” Jim says. “I asked Oswald what had happened. I tried to make him see that he should let you go. Oswald might not be Mayor or King anymore, but he’s got a lot of pull in Gotham again. The GCPD is still building itself back up, we can’t afford to make enemies with the wrong people, not until we’re stronger. I had to make a choice.”

“Like when you let me go to the Court, even though you knew they might kill me?”

This time when they lock eyes Jim smiles. “You’re telling me I could have stopped you?”

It takes a moment, but eventually, Ed smiles too, almost laughs. “Yeah, you’re right. It wasn’t all bad anyway.”

Jim gives a look like he doesn't quite believe that, but he doesn’t push the matter. “Bigger problems right now, huh?”

Ed buries his head in his hands and lets out a little groan. He feels a strange sensation of simultaneously feeling wide awake and extremely tired. It’s confusing and painful and he doesn't quite know what to do. His brain feels like mush. The more he struggles to pull his thoughts together the more frustrated he becomes. He’s not sure what he wants, what he expects from this.

“I don’t know what I need,” Ed says, voice muffled slightly. “I just need… I need…”

“It’s okay,” Jim says, a hand on Ed’s shoulder, gentle, reassuring. “Take your time.”

As he looks up again, he feels stunned. Was Jim always this gentle? This soft? He wasn’t quite sure what to feel. Why had he come to Jim? A part of him tries to rationalise that it’s because he has nobody else, but another part of him, the part that he tries to bury, tells him that it’s because he needs Jim. He needs someone who can take care of him, someone who makes him feel safe, and despite everything, Jim is that person. Ed would never openly admit that he had got it wrong. That he had been paranoid and that Jim had never been against him, that if he hadn’t of been so paranoid perhaps things would have worked out differently. That losing Jim was his fault.

“I need you,” Ed finally says.

Jim’s hand falls away from Ed’s shoulder. The latter wonders how his words must have sounded, but he buries his worries because he could be dead tomorrow. He has no way of knowing what Oswald wants to do with him. He doesn’t know for sure whether or not he’s still got a target on his back, but in his current state of mind, he knows he won’t be very good at fighting back if there is indeed one. So he throws caution to the wind and tries to muster up some of the confidence he thought he had gained recently.

It’s quick, he doesn’t think too much about it, he simply leans in and kisses Jim. Soft, on the lips, nothing particularly special. He closes his eyes as he pulls away a little. He keeps his eyes shut, and it’s only when he feels a hand on his thigh, that he opens them again.

“Jim?” His voice is unsure, barely above a whisper.

To his surprise, Jim leans in and when their lips meet his free hand grabs at Ed’s shirt and pulls him in closer. Everything is slow but deliberate. Ed puts all of his attention into the kiss, the feel of Jim’s lips against his own, the feel of his tongue. When he can feel Jim starting to pull away, Ed holds him closer, prolonging the kiss for just a moment, before they both finally pull apart.

“I don’t want to leave,” Ed confesses. He doesn’t care if it sounds like he’s pleading, he would give anything to stay.

Jim frowns, pressing his forehead against Ed’s. “Who said anything about leaving?”

Ed smiles sadly. “It’s inevitable.”

“But not tonight.’”

Without another word, Jim gets up and holds his hand out to Ed. He helps him to stand before leading the way to the bedroom. Ed wants to say something, to speak up, but he forces himself to remain quiet, to wait and see. This time he was going to trust Jim and he was going to make damn sure he earned Jim’s trust in return.


End file.
